There are two distilleries in the Uncompahgre Valley, and between them they are turning out everything you need for a fully stocked liquor cabinet. Storm King Distilling Co. is one of them.
David Fishering grew up in Montrose after his family moved to the area when he was five years old. After graduating from Montrose High School in 2001, he left to attend university at the University of Southern California. A switch from physics and aerospace engineering to international relations saw him study for a master’s degree in the UK. Stints in San Antonio and DC followed before Fishing and his wife Sarah moved back to Montrose in 2014 to start a family.
A year before the move to Montrose, a road trip to Kentucky to follow the Bourbon Trail, and a trip to Scotland, were the seeds that would eventually lead to the opening of Storm King Distilling Company. While it seemed like a pipe dream while the two were living in DC, when the move to Montrose happened, the dream seemed attainable.
Fishering made a deal with his father, Greg: He would help his father run his business, if they found something more fun to do. They purchased a still in 2016 and distilled a batch of whiskey. Today, Storm King produces bourbon, wheat whiskey, rye whiskey, agave, gin, rum, and vodka with occasional variations on those base spirits such as barrel rested gins .
The Fisherings purchased the historic Potato Grower building in 2017 and while the main building was not in any condition to house a distillery, the metal warehouse on the property was.They opened in June 2018.
The future for the company lies in the Potato Grower building. Inspired by warehouse conversions that have exploded across the country in the last decade or so, the Fisherings are currently working to historically renovate the building into a mixed use retail space that will also be home to the distillery’s tasting room. The plan is to have it open by fall of 2022.